Planting May Flowers...Then and Now

Last May we made a morning of going out to breakfast -- a rare treat -- and then going to the garden center to get flowers for the girls to plant.  They've been asking to plant flowers again this year, so we embarked on a repeat adventure this weekend.

We again enjoyed a super-yummy breakfast, and then headed to the garden center.  The girls again picked petunias for their flower pots.  Last year, they chose pink and purple; this year, purple and white.

I also picked out some begonias for our front flower bed.  (This year is the first time I've planted our front beds since the girls were born...yikes!)

Baby A was quite the helper at the garden center.  She insisted on pulling the flatbed wagon...and she did a pretty decent job!

When we got home, Daddy unloaded the car while the girls and I got our gardening gloves on.  I can't remember that from last year, exactly, but this year was nothing short of hysterical.  I thought the girls would be old enough to put their gloves on by themselves...but I was wrong!  It was a real feat to help them, laboriously, get 20 fingers in place.  My incessant laughing didn't make things go any more smoothly.  Hee hee!

When we finally had our gloves on and our equipment in place, the girls did a great job dropping the plants into the holes I dug.  They were troopers...helping through two pots of petunias and the front flower bed.

After our hard work, we relaxed for a few minutes with a snack on the picnic blanket I spread on the driveway, and then the girls wanted me to show them how to jump rope.  They have a lot of practicing yet to do...but I had a great time!

I only took a few pictures yesterday.  In contrast to last year, Daddy was working on potting our ferns while the girls and I took care of the flowers...so I didn't get as many action shots.

Still, it was so much fun to compare this year's pictures to last...

2013...we're ready!

2012...trying to figure out those gloves!

2013...the fruit of our labor!

2012...grow, little flowers, grow!

One other notable note is that last year was toasty warm...and this year, not so much!  We were fine eating breakfast in our jeans and long-sleeved shirts...but it was downright COLD at the garden center.  Thankfully we had fleece pullovers in the car that we donned...and kept on for the duration of the morning!

Live long and prosper, petunias!  We'll do it again next year!

A Bit About Me, April Edition

My birthday is on February 23.  On the 23rd of each month, I share a couple of random things about myself.  For the month of April, here 'tis!

I had “twins” for extra credit in science class one time.

In the seventh or eighth grade, we had the opportunity to carry around a blown-out eggshell “baby” for extra credit.  It seems like we had to keep a diary of the egg’s whereabouts, and I distinctly remember having to find a “sitter” during PE class.  I hadn’t thought about it in eons, but I recently recalled that I made not one, but TWO, eggshell babies for the project.  I didn’t get double the credit…but they did look super sweet, sitting side-by-side.  Feels kinda prophetic...although I should note that I have never shoved my actual babies into a locker.

I don’t enjoy gardening.

I love having pretty flowers around the house, but I just don’t like planting them.  I don’t enjoy the bending…the weeding…the digging…it’s just.not.me.  It’s one of those things I feel like I should enjoy, but I don’t.  Once upon a time, I did enjoy watering, but now even that is a chore I relegate as best I can.  You might guess we have mostly greenery and perennials at our house.

For the sake of the girls, though, I try to fake it here and there...I orchestrated them planting petunias last year, and they did look awfully cute in their gardening gloves.  Hmmm...maybe if THEY like to garden, I just might have those pretty annuals one day!

Hiking, Houses, and Horticulture

We had such a fun-filled weekend!  On Saturday morning, I cashed in my Mother's Day wish to go "hiking" with the girls at a local state park.  I say "hiking" in quotes because -- by hikers' standards, I'm sure the trails aren't very challenging -- but for a couple of three-year olds and their [over-protective] parents, it's quite the workout!

This was our second time at the park, and it was even more enjoyable than our first trip, in April.  For one, we recognized most of the trails, so we could be a little more carefree [meaning, not so worried we'd get lost with too-few graham crackers to sustain us].  And second, the butterfly habitat was open, and we were the only ones inside!  The girls got a lot of up-close-and-personal time with the butterflies...one even lit briefly on B's nose!

This time we braved a little tougher detour up and around a small waterfall.  We carried the girls across the bottom, stepping on rocks.  It was only a short ways, and the water was only a couple of inches deep...but it was enough to make this mama's heart race just a bit.

In addition to the butterflies, we saw three really cool frogs and the biggest crawdads I've ever witnessed in one of the blue holes in the park.  The frogs were just hanging out, but the crawdads were pretty active and very easy to see.

It's just awesome that the girls are to an age where we can begin to enjoy such family adventures.  There are few things better than good, clean, and FREE family fun!

(I didn't take my camera so I would be sure to "be" in the moment on our outing, which was wonderful...but there were a handful of times I wish I'd had it.)

Saturday afternoon, a friend of mine brought by a playhouse that her boys had outgrown.  We'd been thinking about something along these lines for the girls -- as they LOVE a similar house at our local orchard -- and I was so glad to have been in the right place at the right time to snap up my friend's offer.

Here are the proud new homeowners...

 Here are the girls playing lemonade stand...or special delivery, one...
 

On Sunday, I gave the girls a sale paper.  They played "mailman" with it...

...and then here's B, looking very intent on scouting the very best prices for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend!

Sunday also brought the girls' first time to plant flowers.  This was on my "bucket list" for last summer, but we never quite got there.  A few weeks ago, the girls and I found the cutest little gardening gloves, and I was determined not to let another season go by without putting them to use.

We went to the garden center and let the girls choose flowers.  We agreed beforehand on petunias, as we've been admiring some on our walk for the past couple of weeks.  B chose pink, and A chose purple.

Here are B and A, showing off their new gloves.  (They were a booger to get on, though!  The girls have only ever worn mittens in the winter, so I guess it was a new experience for them...and a funny one for me!)

Here the girls are, preparing the dirt for the second pot.  (There aren't many action shots, as Mommy was elbow-deep in potting soil most of the time, trying to manage the mayhem...and not let our little petunias get squished from all the "attention".)

Afterwards, the girls watered their new plants...

...and here they are, talking to their petunias, and admiring their hard work.

So thankful for adventure-filled weekends with my baby girls!!!